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Published: January 20th 2009
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Cruisin' Susan and Friends
Heffelumps and a bloody big pot! CS:
PP filled you in a bit about our last sojourn, I was chuffed that something like negotiating our way into and out of the city of Shanghai which could have resulted in numerous unhappy dilemmas in fact proved seamless. Me flagging down a police car on the wharf started the ever effective process of communication consisting of smiles, handshakes, poking at maps, hand signals, lots more smiling and finally handing over cab fare that achieved our aim of arriving at the Bund (via taxi number 2) and negotiating our way back again later in the day by reconnecting with taxi number one. (Cabs are subject to zones and are not permitted to go outside their particular areas). If you cannot speak Chinese (nil in the case of us four) and the cab drivers cannot speak English (that is no English) then one way to deal with it is to get them to communicate with each other: seemed to work. Great day freezing in Shanghai, I intend to be better equipped for our return trip. We spent Tuesday on board (save a short walk along the dock being chased back fairly quickly by the bracing wind and the looming heavy equipment
swinging from endless high gantries along the length of our bit of wharf). We departed Shanghai in the afternoon with our new chief engineer on board. We had had the chance to bid a fond farewell to Daniel and Maria before their final disembarkation. Our cabin is now graced with two healthy green pot plants, kindly provided by Maria. We wish them a swift journey home and appreciate that Maria went to pains to find the English to wish us calm seas for the rest of our trip. Craig insists he likes it a bit rough so I hope Maria’s magic prevails.
We are now traversing the Yellow Sea in a northerly direction. We have rolling seas and whitecaps but we have established that the current takes a southerly set in the winter: it seems to be making our passage surprisingly smooth. These are busy waters; on our morning visit to the Bridge I counted no less than 19 other vessels on the horizon. 19 knots and clear skies should see us arriving at Xingang around 10 am tomorrow. We are led to believe the average maximum temperature in Beijing at this time of year is minus 5 degrees (in
or out of the shade) so our anticipated trip to the Great Wall will be by way of air conditioned Mercedes if we can arrange it.
Saturday 17th:
Post Xingang-Beijing and we are on our return journey to Shanghai, much higher out of the water having shed a significant part of our load. We were unable to overnight in Beijing because the schedule was reduced by a day in port but our day trip to the Wall was great!
Arriving in Xingang in morning light showed, through the inevitable smoke haze, a teeming port complex and well over 50 vessels converging on the same point as us. On closer inspection it became clear many of the others were under anchor but we proceeded smoothly to our mooring well up the river. We also realized that the large sheets of what looked like scum on the water surface was in fact crushed ice. 1 degree showed on our window thermometer (notwithstanding the welcome sunshine) it was going to feel cold out there! At one point we thought we would moor immediately behind two passenger cruisers but we ended up some little way away.
We spent the first day in and
Wildlife in Xingang
We two plus a lot of bull and a concrete tree around Xingang-Tianjin having been held on board until noon and then walking to the passenger terminal we could see from the ship hoping to find some duty free outlets. That was not to be as the terminal was completely closed up and unwelcoming, populated only by a driver who had stopped to take a leak against the fence. Into what was one of the town areas we found a coffee shop that proved a bit ‘different’ too. We were ushered up three flights of narrow stairs by a young woman at the door whose sole role seemed to be to open and shut the door for customers (of whom there were very few). The venue opened up into a large intricate area of small booths that were furnished in the fashion of 19th century first class rail carriages. We were shown to one of these by no less than 3 lovely women in crisp green uniforms but had some difficulty explaining our order (merely for coffee) due to the language barrier; even pointing to the pictures on the menu and holding 3 fingers in the air caused confusion. We did get our coffee and it was very good and we
Gone to the Wall
Axelle, Craig, CS and PP took advantage of the free internet.
Leaving there and exploring the shopping area we were surprised at how dingy and dismal the whole place was. Of course the searing cold did not make it any more attractive but after we discovered the only living non-human thing in the mall was in fact a concrete tree next to a large bronze bull, and Craig had great difficulty extricating himself from a small child in the arms of a beggar woman who clutched his jacket with a tight little fist and would not let go until a Yuan was placed in his mother’s bowl, we decided it was time to go.
The following day I bade a quick farewell to our out-going captain and we were picked up by our tour vehicle complete with driver and guide, Jeffery and escorted to the Golden Temple for lunch, Beijing, that Wall, and back. Axelle and I had seen it before, me in 1976 and she in 1996 but Craig and PP had not. It was very cold at the Wall but fortunately without much wind and there were very few people there. The pictures speak for themselves.
We had been advised by phone during
PP and Jeffrey
What a great Wall the day that we needed to be back for sailing that night so we returned by the time it was dark, having debated politics, Tibet, Chinese economic development and everything else under the sun with Jeffrey and heard him play a lovely piece of music for us on his Hu Lu Si.
Sunday 18th. We expect to make Shanghai overnight, subject to the tides which govern our progress up the river. Our return journey has been uneventful save that at around 2pm yesterday we suddenly dropped anchor in the middle of nowhere. The smoke haze is so dense at the moment that we can hardly see beyond the bow. The Captain advised later that we had been instructed to stop because the Chinese military were undertaking exercises in the area; fair enough, but the delay was significantly less than the five hours he had been expecting. The Captain has also advised more fully on various procedures and indicated we can expect our cabin (indeed the whole ship) to be thoroughly searched by the Japanese customs authorities when we arrive in Yokohama.
PP:
Monday 19th January.
Shiver me timbers!! Reef the topsails! Lower the jib! (This is ritual chanting to
appease the sea gods - I have it on good authority that “they” like this sort of (dirty?) talk - don’t laugh, nobody REALLY knows what comes from under/within the seas??!!)
We have just entered the mighty Yangtse River (again) to berth at Shanghai after waiting for 24 hours at anchor about 20-30 nm off shore for the berth to become available. It is after dark and the lights onshore along with the abundance of other shipping makes an interesting sight from our cabin window (porthole? - but it’s not round!).
We have included a couple of pictures taken at the Golden Temple, where we had lunch on the way to the Great Wall. It is a sizeable cloisonné factory outlet - “cloisonné” being the name a French missionary gave to the process involved in the Chinese production of copper pots, plates, ornaments, etc. completely covered and decorated with rich and colourful enamel design. Quite interesting. Lunch there was excellent.
Now a second visit to Shanghai and a chance to get a few little things to help while away sea time across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans - like the necessary Rum Ration needed by we seafaring folk to keep Davey Jones and his cohorts at bay. (“Sixteen men on a dead man’s chest, Yo! Ho! Ho! and a bottle of rum!!”)
Thanks again for all messages and comments on the blog - we like reading them, even if we don’t get internet long enough to answer them all.
So - away me hearties! CS will probably add a little more before we put this message in the bottle to float to all of you.
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Jennifer Corrin
non-member comment
Trying not to be too envious!
You are having way too much fun and far too many adventures! Hope the rum is keeping the cold at bay. You might have to brew up a mulled wine or two. It was about 35 here at the weekend. No need to reply - I'll just follow the blog and tryy not to feel too envious. Jenny